Hammerlocke University
by izumi-chan7475
Summary: After the events of Sword and Shield, Galar's newest young heroes take on their greatest challenge yet - higher education and all the university experience entails. New friendships form, social media craziness ensues, and being the Pokémon Champion while trying to enjoy college is quite the task. First chapter has more lovely exposition, and everyone is in their twenties.
1. Towering Goals

It was a typical autumn Wednesday for the students of Hammerlocke University. The campus, which took up a decent portion of Hammerlocke Castle and its surrounding grounds, was swarming with students who shared the common goal of studying Pokémon.

Most of the University's students attend on some sort of scholarship or endorsement; attending post-secondary school in the world of Pokémon tends to be a bit of a niche thing to do. A majority of Galar's careers don't require a specialized degree, but certain citizens use college to gain a greater knowledge of their lives' pursuits.

In Galar, there are three post-secondary education options for those who aspire to be out of the ordinary. In the town of Motostoke, there is a trade school that specializes in welding. Out west in the fantastical village of Ballonlea is a school specializing in the arts, known for its theatre program. And in the heart of Galar lies Hammerlocke University.

The entirety of Galar has its eyes on HU's students in this current era. The champion of the region, Gloria, has decided to attend the school for a Battle Technician degree, which will give her greater insight on competitive battling all over the Pokémon world. The region's newest up-and-coming professor, Hop, who made it to the semifinals of the latest gym challenge, is starting with a Biology degree. He's planning on earning his doctorate before becoming a full-fledged Pokémon Professor. Galar's newest gym leaders, Marnie of Spikemuth and Bede of Ballonlea are also students in the class of 2023, majoring in Battle Techniques and Pokémon Coordination, respectively. Bede's degree program is also well-renowned at his hometown's college, and many Galarians wonder why he decided to attend the region's flagship school instead of staying closer to his gym.

Luckily for the Champion and gym leaders attending HU, the gym challenge takes place during the summer, so their league duties are fairly light during the school year. During the term however, Marnie lets her brother and former gym leader Piers represent her at meetings, but Bede insists on being at each one even if it means flaking on assignments. Champion Gloria makes sure to attend all local and national meetings, but she has assigned Gym Leader Raihan to represent her internationally each year in April due to the final exams schedule.

Alright, back to Wednesday.

Gloria sat at the back of the lecture hall, which was unusual for the champion. The professor was droning on about the science behind type matchups, which was old news, but she'd still usually be paying attention.

She held her Rotom phone behind the notebook which sat in her lap, at least feigning attention to the material. Gloria had received a text right before class started that she just couldn't ignore.

_Leon: I got everything squared away early, thanks to you. the tower is gonna b opening this weekend. Friday night, be there._

The Battle Tower. After being defeated in Gloria's championship match, Leon had been working on a project unknown to most of Galar. He'd wanted to be a Battle Technician like so many of the world's great trainers, but his pride prevented him from enrolling at HU at the same time as his younger brother Hop. So instead Leon took it upon himself to rebuild the gaudy Rose Tower into a Battle Facility like the ones he'd participated in during winter residencies in Hoenn and Sinnoh.

Gloria, being ahead of the game in her degree program and well-traveled due to her very worldly family, was Leon's sole advisor during the project. She hadn't told Hop or even her roommate Marnie about the Tower, and they wouldn't know anything about it until it was formally announced.

_Gloria: sweet. are the mints really going to be here in time for opening weekend?_

_ Leon: yep, that's what I was waiting on. The first shipment came in this morning. i was worried about the adamant and jolly supply, but I paid more for expd. shipping. thx again for suggesting those, m8._

_ Gloria: yea np. Do u know when there'll be a formal news announcement?_

_ Leon: I just pulled up to tha news station fr fr_

_ Gloria: oh this is gonna be huge here on campus. Thanks again for tha heads up, im gonna get some train tickets for me n hop and book a room b4 the news goes live_

_ Leon: cant wait to see you guys!_

For the rest of the class period, Gloria sought out two-way train tickets to Wyndon and back for Friday afternoon through Sunday morning and booked the Champion Suite at the newly-remodeled Bluebelleon Inn not too far from the center of the capital city. _Hop is gonna flip._

After daydreaming about which three of her ace Pokémon she'd want to showcase that weekend, class dismissed for the day. Gloria slipped her phone into the front pocket of her bag and quickly shoved the notebook she didn't end up using into the bigger one. She hadn't even gotten out a pencil for class.

Gloria exited the lecture hall through the doors at the top of the stairs and leaned against one of the walls in the hallway outside, tying her hair up into a high ponytail while her chocolate bangs still curtained her eyebrows.

"Hey, Glor! What in blazes are ya doin' here, I didn't see ya durin' class!"

The Champion turned toward the voice calling to her, adjusting the straps of her oversized bookbag and averting her gaze. _My eyes will give away the surprise, she can read me like a book!_

"Oi Marnie, you startled me. I was at the back of the hall, had some emails to catch up on. Didn't think the prof would take too kindly to me bein' on my phone."

"Hm. Fair." Gloria and Marnie started off in the direction of the girls' dormitories as their classes for the day had ended. The curtains had been parted to reveal the castle's stained-glass windows that day, which bathed the stony hallways in a colorful sunlight. "I think Raihan's declared it a Sunny Day today. It's been overcast for so long; don't think he could take it anymore."

"I couldn't either. Goin' outside was just like staying in, but worse." Gloria brushed a strand of hair out of her face distractedly, something suddenly feeling off about the conversation.

"You feeling alright?" Marnie was casting a sidelong glance at her roommate, noticing the shift in Gloria's tone. "You're lookin' a little flushed."

"Oh. I'm fine, I think I might be dehydrated." Gloria quickly reached for her water bottle that was a permanent fixture in her bag's side pocket and downed the remainder of the morning's metallic-tasting water. The drink cleared her thoughts enough for Gloria to realize why she'd suddenly acted strangely.

_That name…_

Suddenly, a familiar buzz sounded from Marnie's handbag. "Oh, there's my phone." She retrieved the device and answered it as the two girls reached the spiral staircase heading for home.

"Oh, hi Hop… Gloria? I think her phone's on silent. She was texting Raihan during class."

Gloria's face burned, but she couldn't quite put a finger on how that comment made her feel. "I was _not."_ She hissed.

"Is tha' so? We're heading back to our dorm, I'll see if I can find the livestream…Thanks mate, I'll talk to ya later." Marnie hung up just as the girls reached the top of the stairs. "Hop says Leon's on the news."

"Hope it's not about him getting lost in the Wild Area and having to call a rescue squad again."

"Nah, it's actually something that Hop says came out of left field for him-"

"Huh? Hop watches baseball? Didn't know he cared for Unovan sports."

"I think so, why?"

"No matter. And hey, can ya stop makin' up stories about me? Didn't appreciate that Raihan comment."

"Please, Glor. I saw your location on Chatter last weekend-"

"I have GOT to turn that off. Also, it was Champion business, I'm trying to arrange an exhibition match for Raihan and someone important from Johto before the summit in April."

"Yeah, but did you have to go to his HOUSE after dinner?"

"…That was all him, not me." Gloria hid her face as she retrieved her room key from the outer pocket of her bookbag, unlocked their shared room's door and threw her jacket and bag onto her bed. "Turn on the news, wouldja?"

"Aight, aight." Marnie plopped down at her desk and took out her laptop, quickly booting it up and navigating to ChuTube. Gloria pulled her chair up to her roommate's desk, trying to hide her excitement of what she knew was to come. Luckily for her, Marnie was fixated on the screen. The gym leader's Morpeko popped out of its Poké ball which was situated on the desk and made itself comfortable in Marnie's lap.

Before the newscast that was #1 on trending fully loaded, Marnie clicked and dragged the scroll bar to the beginning.

"Good afternoon, this is the October 5th edition of Battle Report! I'm Finn Finnegan and I'm here with former Champion Leon from Postwick, who is here to share some exciting news with Galar's trainers."

Gloria winced. "Former Champion" seemed like a bit of a slap in the face. When the camera panned over to Leon, however, the former Champion was all smiles.

And his OUTFIT… oh boy. _Why does he look like a history reenactor?_

"Hello, Galar! It's been a long time since I've been able to address you all like this, but pretty soon you'll be seing a lot more of the Charizard Master!"

"Oh brother, is that what he's calling himself now?"

"MARNIE, SHUSH!"

"You see, this weekend a whole new place to battle will be opening in the fair city of Wyndon! I've been working on this project with a colleague of mine-"

Gloria cringed. _That's gonna get people talking and theorizing. I don't want to take even more credit from him…_

"…ever since this summer's Champion Match. I welcome the trainers of Galar to… THE BATTLE TOWER!" The camera panned to the doors of the former Rose tower, now framed by cheery bluebells, one of Leon's favorite plants.

"MATE, WHAT?!" Marnie's jaw dropped at the announcement. It was unlike anything the region had ever seen, and those studying to be Battle Technicians in Galar knew what this meant for them. "IS THIS SERIOUSLY…?" Morpeko lifted its head, clearly startled at its trainers raised voice.

"YEAH, WE'RE GETTING A FRONTIER FACILITY WITH WORLDS RULES!" At Gloria's equally excited shout, Morpeko hopped off Marnie's lap and hid under her desk.

"AMAZIN'- wait, how do you know for sure?"

The livestream continued and took Marnie's attention away from Gloria's suspicious knowledge.

"…frontier battle system. I'm looking forward to seeing Galar's best here in Wyndon starting this FRIDAY NIGHT for season one of the Battle Tower!" The stream cut off just as it looked like Leon was about to strike a Charizard pose, and Gloria stifled a snort. Marnie turned her chair to face Gloria, eyes wide and gleaming.

"Mate, this is BONKERS! You HAVE to go this weekend."

"Um… I already got train tickets…"

"YES- wait, how did YOU know about this?"

"Uh…" _Telling Marnie wouldn't hurt. But I have to tell Hop about the tickets right now before he buys his own! _Gloria pushed her chair back to her own desk and reached for the bag she'd thrown onto her bed, retrieving her Rotom phone. "Y'know how Leon said he'd been working with a colleague?" she hurriedly opened her messages log with Hop.

"…Tha' was YOU?! You're KIDDING. Gloria, I swear you don't even have to get this degree. You're already doing a Technician's work."

"Leon asked me because we're friends. And I taught him about Nature Mints. Didn't know those existed before coming here."

"You can figure out about those on the internet."

"That's beside the point. It was just a connection." Gloria finished sending her message to Hop. "Hop and I are going up to Wyndon for opening weekend-"

"YOU TOLD HOP?! Why not me?"

"Hold on, I didn't tell Hop. I got our tickets in advance because I knew he'd want to come with me and you're going to be in Spikemuth this weekend."

"Blast. How do you know my schedule better than I do?"

"Just Champion things."

"It's only been three months, Glor."

"Guess it's just me, then."


	2. Dragon Dance

_Thursday Night_

Gloria stood on the far end of the indoor field at Hammerlocke Stadium, taking in the strange atmosphere of the empty arena. It was too early in the semester for students to be able to rent out the space, but after the announcement of the Battle Tower the previous day, the Stadium's gym leader let Gloria use it to train that evening. The cavernous room seemed to have a stony breeze flowing through it and before reaching for a Poké ball, Gloria pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

Gym Leader Raihan had agreed to Gloria's request upon ensuring he'd be able to battle her upcoming lineup in a practice match or two. The two elite trainers now stood opposing each other, attempting to emulate the Tower rules.

"No medicines or revives," Gloria had lectured before their training. "And just for tonight, no Dynamax."

"Aww, Glor, that takes all the fun outta it."

"I think it makes it more fun."

Hop and Marnie knew of their friend's whereabouts that evening but were excluded on purpose. Gloria didn't want either of them copying her strategies.

"Splat, let's get 'em!" Gloria threw out a standard Poké ball and out popped a terrifying-looking fish creature that stood upright on two legs.

"YOU HAVE A DRACOVISH?!" Raihan's exclamation echoed throughout the stadium, knocking Gloria off guard. The Pokémon didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah, he's a real ace! Get on with it, now!"

"Two can play at that game, aye? Zolt!" The gym leader brought out a similarly-strange looking dragon, a Dracozolt.

"When'dya manage to get that one?" Gloria was more than surprised to see another Galar fossil being used in battle.

"Not too long ago. He's a cool lil' guy!"

"Indeed 'e is. Splat, Fishious Rend!"

"Wait woah WOAH fishiest WHAT?!"

The Dracozolt was knocked against one of the walls that surrounded the pitch, Splat's signature move dealing more than half of Zolt's HP in damage. The display screens in the stadium showed this as a graphic, which Gloria had convinced Raihan to set up as if they were in a real match.

"What was THAT?!"

"That was my friend Splat, ain't he lovely?"

"Tell me about 'im later. Zolt, hit 'em with Bolt Beak!"

Splat's surprisingly hefty defenses only took about a quarter of its HP in damage, despite the move being relatively effective. Zolt however recoiled harshly after barraging its opponent with a lightning-encased peck attack, its HP now near zero.

"WHAT KINDA… BOLT BEAK DOESN'T HAVE RECOIL!" Raihan didn't flinch as his outraged shouting reverberated through the air, but even in such a huge space Gloria wished she'd brought earplugs.

"All hail the Rocky Helmet…" she whispered to herself. It seemed that Raihan hadn't noticed the item Splat was equipped with. Perhaps he'd assumed it was part of the Dracovish's biology. Maybe his constant sandstorm battles were blinding him. Gloria remembered that Raihan never decided to go for any sort of degree despite basically living on the campus of HU. He preferred to learn about Pokémon "in the field", but sometimes it was obvious he wasn't a Technician.

* * *

Raihan and Gloria spent a good hour or so in 3-on-3 matches, each trainer facing significant troubles with the new rules and limits. Gloria won the series 4-2, but Raihan took any kind of win against the Champion as a real victory. By the end of their matches, Raihan had thrown off his signature hoodie and Gloria had equipped a headband to keep her bangs off her perspiring forehead. It was getting late, and each of them had responsibilities to attend to the next day.

"You're not heading up to Wyndon tomorrow, are ya?" Gloria asked Raihan as the two walked towards the south locker room together.

"Nah. I got lots to do 'round here, we're startin' to rent the stadium out next month."

"I see," but the only thing Gloria could see right now was the outline of Raihan's abs through his dragon uniform, which was closer to her eye-level than his face. Stupid thoughts.

"Say hi to Leon for me though, would ya?" Raihan asked nonchalantly as the two of them exited the pitch.

"Huh? I thought you guys hung out." Gloria kept up their conversation whilst heading to retrieve her jacket and backpack from the locker she'd been using and made the mistake of glancing towards Raihan. He'd thrown off the headband keeping his hair back as well as his uniform shirt and was rifling around in a locker full of random athletic gear to find who knows what. Gloria wondered how the gym leader stayed in such amazing shape when 75% of what he ate was pizza and flamin' hot Cheetos.

_I act like I've never seen him like this before, what the hell. Chill._

"Yeah, well, not recently. Guy's been too busy for anyone as of late." Raihan's reply was quieter than his usual banter. He turned and noticed the Champion facing away from him, mindlessly scrolling through Chatter on her Rotom phone whilst sitting on a bench. He stopped looking for the hoodie he wanted and threw back on the sweatshirt he'd been wearing earlier.

"He's been busy with the Battle Tower, ya dolt. I haven't heard from him much either." Gloria replied halfheartedly. _That was a blatant lie, _she thought.

Raihan slammed his locker door shut and made his way over to Gloria, sitting down beside but not crowding her.

"…Lee always said after he lost the Champion title, he'd wanted to do something like this. He told me about the whole Frontier thing he did back in Sinnoh and he wanted me to be a part of it."

Gloria's heart sunk. _Why does being Champion mean crushing everyone's dreams? Leon should have asked Raihan to help him with all this, not me! _She mindlessly let her hair out of its ponytail, further obscuring her face.

"Well, knowing Leon, he's always had a bit of an independent streak…" Gloria hoped she could put her friend at ease.

"Not like this. He's not one to push his friends away, Glor. Especially me, Sonia, Piers… we only here from the guy once a week if we're lucky."

Gloria couldn't say anything to help. The truth would only make things worse.

Raihan suddenly moved closer to Gloria on the bench, forgetting his earlier concern for personal space. "Hey."

"Er… what?"

"Wanna come over tonight?"

Gloria's face and neck grew hot and she kept her gaze down, checking the time on her phone.

"Mate, it's after ten. I have class tomorrow."

"…What time do your classes start? You can spend the night, y'know."

_I'm not doing this again. _Gloria thought and stood up, facing the gym leader with her embarrassingly red complexion.

"Raihan, I'm not looking for a relationship right now. I told you that already."

Raihan suddenly sat up from his slouched posture, nearly at eye-level with the Champion. Their height difference was laughable.

"I'm not either. That doesn't mean anything." Raihan capped his sentence with a flirty smile, his intriguingly sharp canines glinting in the fluorescent light. His hair was down, a rare sight, and some very conflicted memories resurfaced in the Champion's thoughts.

Gloria resisted the urge to punch him, but she didn't want to hurt their friendship. Or her hand. _You're a right bastard ye are, though._

"Well, it doesn't mean anything to _you._" Gloria decided to soften her tone after Raihan's eyes flickered with some unknown emotion."I gotta go. I'll tell Leon you're thinking of him." She hoisted her bag over one shoulder and hurried out of the locker room, not daring to look back.


	3. Electric Terrain

_Friday, Day of the Battle Tower Opening Ceremony_

Gloria could hardly contain herself throughout the day's classes. After getting back to her dorm the previous night, trying to push the image of a shirtless Raihan out of her thoughts, she'd spent a good hour packing and planning for the weekend's events. She intended to debut a new uniform for her first series of battles that evening, and even though Tower battles weren't public, there would certainly be fans and reporters hanging out in and around the building. Gloria had also thought long and hard about what to wear during any possible matchup with Leon, as she knew she couldn't be outshone by her predecessor.

_He may look like he's from the 18__th__ century, but the public eats that stuff up!_

Between class periods, Gloria had been stopped by fellow trainers in the hallway to talk about the Battle Tower. She couldn't let anyone know she'd helped with it, since she wanted all the credit to go to Leon, but it was nice being able to finally talk about the Tower with her classmates. It was a relief to not have to keep it a secret anymore.

For the first month or so of classes, Gloria had become accustomed to receiving huge amounts of attention from nearly everyone on campus. All of her classmates were enamored with the idea of befriending the Champion, and it felt nice to be popular for once. But Gloria kept her main circle of friends small and knew that she had a reputation to keep up as someone so revered in the Galar region. It was terrifying at times, but being asked for an autograph every few days was certainly entertaining.

Gloria's last class of the day, Water Bio 1, was fairly empty that afternoon. She and Hop and Marnie sat in a row closer to the front of the lecture hall than usual, trying to pay attention before school was out for the weekend.

The two girls found it difficult to focus as Hop continuously bounced his knee, which could be felt through the floor.

"Hey man, can you knock that off?" Marnie whispered, trying not to sound too bothered. "It's a bit distractin'."

"Oh, sorry!" Hop replied, his sudden loudness causing the lecturer to cast the students a warning glance. Hop then continued, whispering, "I'm just so hype for this weekend, it's hard to sit still."

"Honestly, same," Gloria assured. "Just twenty more minutes!" she must have spoken a bit too loudly, as one of the students seated in the row in front of the three turned halfway to face her. _Bede…_

"Can you keep it down, please?" He whispered harshly, yet the fairy-type gym leader's eyes were more sympathetic than anything. "Some of us are trying to learn." Bede then quickly turned back around to pay attention to the lecture, mumbling something to the girl next to him.

"He's still as sour as ever," Hop grumbled, trying to keep his voice down. "He's got everything he could ever want and still finds something to complain about."

"He's got a point, Hop," Marnie whispered, jotting something down in her notebook. At least someone had been paying attention to that last PowerPoint slide. "Just shut up, you two. You'll have the whole weekend to gab."

The rest of the class period dragged by as Hop and Gloria painstakingly took notes on the biology of the Wailord family. It would've been interesting stuff any other day, but there was an atmosphere of untempered excitement amongst the trainers of Galar that Friday.

The three friends made no haste packing up their materials and heading out of the lecture hall. It was surprising how empty the classroom was that day; Water Bio 1 was taken by nearly every first-year at the University. It seemed many students had already left for the weekend, likely on their way to Wyndon for the festivities.

Gloria led the way up the stairs and out into the hallway only to be met with a crowd of her classmates' face lighting up when they saw her. Hop and Marnie followed close behind, seeming a bit confused at the hubbub.

"Good luck at the Battle Tower, Gloria!" a first-year named Reese exclaimed, smiling at the front of a group of excited trainers.

"You too, Hop!" another girl added, waving at the former gym challengers.

Gloria and Hop looked at each other in surprise, then back at their classmates.

"Uh… thanks, everyone!" Hop addressed them, waving at his fans. "We'll tell you all about it when we get back."

"I'll be heading up to Wyndon next weekend!" Marnie declared and stepped out from behind her friends, much to the surprise of her classmates.

"Oh wow, that's so cool!" someone shouted.

The three friends spent a decent amount of time chatting up their classmates, Gloria checking her phone every few minutes to ensure she and Hop had enough time to get to the train station. She was about to retrieve her friend from a gaggle of excited classmates when someone unexpected made himself present to her.

"Hey, you." Gloria looked up slightly as Bede somehow appeared out of the crowd before her. Most of the trainers were talking with Hop at the moment so she hadn't been paying attention.

"Oh, hi, Bede." The Champion wanted to choose her words carefully. She didn't have the greatest past with the Ballonlea gym leader and knew he was easy to set off.

"Er… good luck this weekend." Bede's violet eyes were shifty as he tried to find the right words. "I've heard this is the kind of battling you're into, and I- uh, we wanna hear about it when you get back."

Gloria forced herself to not give away her surprise at Bede's comment. He was usually so distant from the rest of the year's gym challengers and his sudden interest in what the Champion was up to seemed completely out of the blue.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it." Gloria willed herself to make eye contact, trying to read the gym leader's unfamiliar expression. "I was thinking after this weekend I could-"

"Glor! We're leaving!" Hop's voice snapped Gloria out of the fog clouding her thoughts during the awkward encounter. She looked over Bede's shoulder to see Hop racing towards her, quickly throwing himself between the Champion and the gym leader.

"Uh…" Bede suddenly looked exceedingly flustered at Hop's interruption.

"Hop, we still have an hour 'til we have to be at the station." Gloria assured her friend as she cast an apologetic glance at Bede.

"I know, but I've gotta finish packing. You can come with me." Hop quickly took Gloria by the arm and waved goodbye to Marnie, who was busy conversing with the now thinning crowd of trainers. He made sure to give Bede a warning look, but the fairy-type trainer simply blinked in confusion.

Gloria pulled her arm free of Hop's grasp as he walked speedily in the direction of the boys' dormitories, straining to keep up with her taller friend.

"That was awfully rude of you back there," she grumbled, suddenly very embarrassed by Hop's actions.

"You should have seen how uncomfortable you looked, Glor. I dunno what that guy was saying to you but I could tell you wanted out of it."

"…Huh? Oh, Bede? We were just talking about the Battle Tower. I'm just not used to talking to him, I guess. Especially after the gym challenge." Gloria thought back to how absolutely, positively bratty Bede had acted towards the other challengers just a few months prior.

"He probably just wants your strategies." Hop scoffed as the two trainers arrived at the elevator at the end of the hallway. He was repeatedly pressing the "up" button on the wall, not seeming to realize it only needed to be pressed once.

"I don't think so, mate. He just wanted to wish me luck." Gloria stared at her shoes absentmindedly as the elevator finally opened and Hop stopped smashing the "up" button.

"That's awfully sus. Especially after he yelled at me in class today." Hop led the way into the elevator and hit the button for the floor he lived on, only once this time.

"He didn't yell at you. I think it was called for; you were bein' quite distracting today."

"That's rich, coming from you."

Gloria was astonished at Hop's sudden change in attitude. It seemed like the interaction he'd broken up was unusually upsetting to him. She decided to change the subject.

"Why haven't you finished your packing yet? I did mine all last night."

"Oh, you know me," Hop said with a smile as the elevator opened on the floor of their destination. He hurried out and down the hall, Gloria close behind. "Couldn't sleep, tried to let out some energy through studying."

"Studying? We just had midterms."

Hop came upon his room quickly, throwing the door open right away as he hadn't locked it before class. Gloria sometimes questioned her friend's living habits, which was again confirmed by the state of his room they came upon.

The Champion followed her rival into his room, not sure where she should sit while he finished packing for the weekend. Both Hop's and his roommate's desk chairs were occupied by piles of books and clothes, which were equally likely to be clean or worn. Hop dug through the pile on his chair, somehow knowing exactly where the shirt he was looking for resided within the mess.

"Hop, how do you and Carson live like this?" Gloria asked, slightly horrified at not being able to see the carpet through all the mess on the floor.

Hop looked up at her for a second, then continued his whirlwind pace of finding things he needed and throwing them into a heap on his bed.

"Well, Carson's almost never here unless he's sleeping. And he only sleeps about four hours a night." Hop continued his packing mania as Gloria simply shut the door behind her and sat down against it.

"Maybe you should stay home this weekend and clean instead," Gloria remarked, noticing how much worse the room looked when she was sitting on the floor.

Hop laughed a bit to himself, clearly in a better mood already. He froze suddenly at some unknown thought, then shooed Gloria away from the door as he threw open the closet adjacent to it.

"I almost forgot! Lee told me to wear something nice tonight, he's going to have you and me speak at the opening ceremony."

Gloria's eyes widened as she shot up to her feet. "Huh?! When did he tell you that?"

"He texted me during Water Bio. I thought you already knew!"

Gloria frantically dug her Rotom phone out of her backpack, opening her messages for the first time since before classes that morning. She'd been trying so hard to focus on school she hadn't even been paying attention to notifications. Sure enough, she had missed texts from Leon.

_Leon: I got some media time for us tonight. Im gonna say some things but if you and Hop wanna talk a bit, i've made the plans_

_ Leon: you might wanna wear something nice. I'll be in my tower uiform_

_ Leon: hellooooo? This is kinda important_

Gloria quickly put away her phone again and began to head out the door. _Did that man really wait til THE DAY OF to tell me about this?!_

"Sorry, mate, I gotta go figure this fancy thing out."

"Oh, I'm almost done, let me come with!" Hop finished stuffing a pair of slacks into his duffel and slung it over one shoulder. "I can help you pick something out."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "I guess so."

* * *

"Shit. I don't have anything nice with me besides a cocktail dress." Gloria complained as she flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. Hop sat at Gloria's desk, spinning the swivel chair in circles as Marnie snoozed on her own bed with headphones on.

"That'll look nice enough, Glor. Just hurry, we don't have a lot of time." Hop continued spinning, not used to actually being able to sit in a desk chair.

"I'm supposed to look elegant, ya doof. Not like I'm hitting the town." Gloria pressed her palms over her eyes, secretly wishing Leon hadn't asked her to speak that night. Suddenly, a last-ditch idea popped into her head. She jumped off her bed and began to dig through her packed bag that sat on the floor.

"Leon's wearing that crazy vintage getup tonight, isn't he?" Gloria thought out loud, carefully pulling a garment out of her bag.

"Yeah, why?" Hop stopped swiveling, interested in what Gloria was getting at.

"I guess I'll just wear my 'V.S. Tower Tycoon" getup as well." She held up a long, royal blue tailcoat with matching slacks and a white dress shirt, made complete with a fluffy collar.

"WOAH! That looks like what Lee was wearing yesterday, but like… better!" Hop suddenly looked puzzled. "Wait, what's a Tower Tycoon?"

Gloria thought for a moment, realizing Leon probably wasn't using the traditional Tower boss title since he wasn't a Battle Technician.

"Oh, it's just technically what frontier Tower bosses are called, but I guess I misspoke. This is what I'm going to wear if I face Leon this weekend."

"That is BADASS!"

"I'll look like I'm about to ride a Rapidash in Medieval armor off into the sunset."

* * *

Gloria and hop made it to Hammerlocke station with only minutes to spare. The station was swarming with students and all sorts of citizens, traveling for the weekend, most of them to Wyndon.

As Hop and Gloria left the HU campus with a few other student challengers, they were met with nearly everyone in their path asking for some sort of autograph or photo together, which the challengers had to deny for time's sake. They were running a bit behind schedule already and assured their fans they'd be back in Hammerlocke before the weekend was over.

There was also a crowd of battle fans outside the stadium, wishing Gloria, Hop, and all the other challengers luck at the Tower. To Gloria's dismay, she'd spotted the gym leader Raihan towering above the crowd, taking selfies with some of his own fans. He'd managed to catch the Champion's eye just as she passed, and she may or may not have seen him wink at her.

_I'm not letting you get me into a PR nightmare, Raihan. We have reputations to hold up, y'know._

Gloria and Hop boarded the train together and found the compartment she'd reserved for just the two of them. As the train left Hammerlocke, the two trainers waved out the window to all of their local fans. It was surreal. A few months earlier they were just a couple of small-town kids struggling with young adulthood, dreaming of taking on the gym challenge; now, they represented an entire generation.


	4. ArRival

The train ride to Wyndon from Hammerlocke was relatively short, especially compared to the trips Gloria and Hop used to take there from Wedgehurst when they were younger. The trainers spent most of the ride gazing out the window, watching as the sunshine of Hammerlocke gave way to cloudier mountain landscapes.

About a half hour out from their destination, Gloria's Rotom phone chimed.

"New Chatter followers for you, Gloria!" Rotom buzzed happily. The Champion retrieved the phone from her bag and turned on the screen.

"No surprise there, miss champion!" Hop teased from his seat opposite Gloria. She rolled her eyes at him with a smile then opened the application with its Chatot icon.

_Forgot to turn that setting off when I turned my ringer back on. I'm getting hundreds of followers a day, don't need to be bugged every five minutes! _She mindlessly scrolled through the list of new followers, only stopping on one profile that stood out to her.

TheNewFairyKing – **Gym Leader Bede** followed you!

_Since when did he get a Chatter? _Gloria curiously clicked on the gym leader's profile, which displayed that he'd joined in October 2019. _Today's the 7__th__… so that must have been recently._

Bede already had about a hundred followers, but in true celebrity fashion was only following about 20 users. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, Gloria checked to see who else the fairy-type user saw fit of a Chatter follow.

_Hm… Milo, Nessa, Kabu… I guess he's just following the other league people. _Gloria had to stifle a wince when she saw Raihan's new profile picture, a mirror selfie of him t-posing taken in his upstairs bathroom. _I wish I didn't know that much about where he lives. _The only other user on Bede's following list besides Galar league members was a girl named Klara, whose profile simply read "Ballonlea, GL".

_Oh, she's the one he always sits with in lecture. Must be his girlfriend or something. _Gloria navigated back to Bede's page, scrolling down only to find he hadn't chattered anything yet. She scrolled back up to his profile; he had no bio text, his birthday was April 24th, and Gloria found herself clicking on his profile photo.

Bede's hair seemed to have gotten longer since the gym challenge. It framed his face a bit differently; Gloria thought it made him look older. In his profile picture, the gym leader was holding a Hatenna over his head in a pose that seemed like he was about to shoot a basketball, the ball in this case being the Pokémon. Gloria giggled out loud and quickly closed the app as Hop looked up at her, breaking the silence.

"What's so funny?" He asked, nosy as ever.

"Oh nothin'. Just something I saw online." Gloria pocketed her phone, going back to staring out the window. _Nice to know Bede got a sense of humor since the gym challenge._

"Alright, don't tell me."

"Huh? Mate, it really wasn't anything special."

"…you're lookin' a bit off. Not texting Raihan again, are we?"

Gloria sat up straight, brow furrowing in anger as she glared at Hop.

"Why does everyone keep sayin' that? First Marnie, now you, what's the big idea? He's just one of my training partners, quit teasin' me!"

Hop leaned in towards Gloria, smirking lightly.

"Word around campus is you got home pretty late from the Stadium last night, hm?"

"I was TRAININ'! For this weekend! Get off my case, will ya?" Gloria's mind whirled with worry, hoping that was all her classmates were saying about her and the gym leader. Besides, she knew that even if she _wanted_ to be in a relationship, it wouldn't be with someone like _Raihan. _Sure, he was handsome… and funny, and endearing, and really damn talented, and really good at a lot of things she wasn't, and _reaaally_ good at…

But Gloria definitely had other priorities in mind. And the dragon tamer wasn't really someone anyone saw settling down, like, _ever. _

"All right, I'll quit. It's fun to tease the champion once in a while, though."

"Not when it turns into tabloids calling me every degrading name in the book, Hop."

"Aye, you got a point there."

Gloria and Hop sat together in somewhat-awkward silence until the train conductor addressed the passengers over the intercom.

"Next stop, Wyndon Station. This is the end of the line today, folks, so everyone on board must get off at Wyndon."

The rivals met each other's eyes with a shared, sparkling excitement. Although Hop was now on the road to becoming a Pokémon professor rather than a world-renowned trainer, he and Gloria would always share the same passion for battling.

"I can't wait to see Lee, it's been so long!" Hop exclaimed, fixing his hair in the reflection of the train window.

"Yeah, me too. I'm kind of nervous for all the news coverage, though…" Gloria watched the trees outside the window thin out as they neared the capital city. _I haven't done my own makeup in over a month!_

"Oh, don't worry about that," Hop assured as he turned back towards her. "If my careless brother could deal with the cameras for nearly a decade, you'll be totally fine."

"I guess you're right."

The view outside the train became the familiar Wyndon skyline within a few moments, skyscrapers gleaming and reflecting the partly-cloudy sky in the distance. It tended to be a bit chillier up north, so Gloria retrieved her knit scarf from her backpack and wrapped it around her neck a few times before pulling her sweater back on.

Hop suddenly jumped to his feet, eyes wide as he stared out the window.

"Glor, look!"

The Champion followed her friend's gaze, astonished by what she saw. The train was pulling into Wyndon station, which was crowded to the brim with people holding banners, signs, and even their own Pokémon in the air. The signs read, _Welcome, Champion!, Good Luck, Trainers!, Hi, Hop!, _and the like.

"Oh goodness, I wasn't prepared for this!" Gloria hurriedly fixed her bangs and leapt up beside Hop, joining him in waving at the crowd. The trainers had to brace their legs as the train screeched to a halt, then gave a few final smiles to their fans as they gathered their belongings from the compartment.

"Do I look okay? Fix my collar, would you?" Hop asked as the trainers headed down the aisles and towards the closest exit doors.

"You look fine. And you don't have a collar fix, you're wearing a hoodie." Gloria led the way out of the train, bidding thanks to the crew as they waved goodbye to the passengers.

An escort from the station met Gloria, Hop, and a few other well-known trainers as they got off, clearly there to help the challengers make it out of the station without having to deal with a rabid crowd.

"Aw, I wanted to sign some autographs," Hop complained as he followed Gloria and their escorts off the platform through a back exit.

"There will be plenty of time for that this weekend, mate. Let's hurry and check into our hotel so we can spiffy up before the ceremony." Gloria rolled up the right sleeve of her sweater and checked her watch. _3:30… we've got three hours 'til Leon wants us at the tower._

Once they were well away from the crowd surrounding Wyndon station, Gloria and Hop thanked and tipped their escorts and immediately called a Corviknight Taxi. Luckily for them, the pilot didn't pester them too much with questions and was intent on doing his job. It was the nicest flight Gloria had in a long time.

* * *

"The Bluebelleon Inn… I really can't believe they renamed the Rose of the Rondelands!" Hop exclaimed as he and Gloria waited for an elevator in the lobby of their hotel.

"Well, a lot of things in Wyndon have been pretty awkward since what went down with Chairman Rose," Gloria muttered, distracted by a Rookidee fluttering in a young tree outside the window. It reminded her of home. "The Tower, this place… sometimes things gotta change."

"Wait a sec, Glor… Bluebells, like the lil' flowers we have back in Postwick… Bluebelleon… Bluebell LEON…"

"You don't think…?" Gloria and Hop exchanged an incredulous, bug-eyed glance.

The elevator arrived on the first floor and the two friends stepped back to let the passengers out before they got on. They were mostly businesspeople, but there was one family of three with a small child around nine or ten years old.

"Mommy, Daddy! It's Champion Gloria and Hop!"

The trainers mentioned looked at each other in surprise and waved at the boy, smiling warmly.

"Hey bud, nice to see you!" Hop replied as if addressing an old friend.

He and Gloria hastily got into the elevator as the family waved at him, the elevator doors closing as the boy said, "I can't wait to hear about your battles this weekend!"

"That was sweet," Gloria sighed as she hit the button for the fourth floor. "I'm still not used to being recognized yet."

"_You're_ not used to it? I'm not even the champion and I have fans, it's so bonkers to me." Hop laughed in response, seemingly much more positive about things than he was at the end of the gym challenge. It was as if he was finally happy with his place in the world.

"Fair. But I don't think I'll ever be used to it."

* * *

"I don't look ridiculous?" Gloria smoothed down the tailcoat of her Battle Tower boss outfit before sitting down in the Corviknight taxi, feeling extremely self-conscious next to the more casually-dressed Hop.

"You're a STUNNER in that getup, mate! Leon'll be so surprised when he sees you, I bet it'll scare 'im!"

Gloria didn't want to admit it, but that was what she was going for.

When the two of them landed at the Battle Tower, an even bigger crowd than earlier had formed outside, clearly waiting for Galar's most famous challengers.

"IT'S HOP!"

"AND THE CHAMPION, TOO!"

The aforementioned trainers tipped their pilot and bade him farewell, then waved at the crowd as they exited the flying taxi. Before Gloria had a chance to think, a familiar figure appeared beside her and Hop.

"'Ello, you two. I'm here to 'elp ye avoid the mob out here and hook ya up with Leon."

"Oh, hey, Piers!" Gloria exclaimed, throwing herself at her best friend's older brother in a familial hug.

"I didn't know you were gonna be here!" Hop added, going in for his secret handshake with the dark-type trainer.

"I decided to come an' 'elp out last minute. I figured Marnie'd be home in Spikemuth this weekend, so I won't hafta worry about tha' ol' mess. And, woah there, you're lookin' sharp today, ain't ye?"

Gloria smiled as she and Hop followed the former gym leader to an area gated off from the crowd, waving and winking at her fans before the three of them disappeared through a side door into the newly-revamped Battle Tower.

The two challengers couldn't believe their eyes as what Leon had done with the place. The once-cold atmosphered Macro Cosmos headquarters was now adorned with flowers, bluebells the most plentiful amongst them, and gilded furniture, almost like a royalty-encrusted, indoor replica of Postwick.

"Leon, I got 'em here for ya." Piers called into the seemingly empty lobby. An instant later, Leon himself appeared out of a side door opposite the room of where the others had entered, a cheesy grin plastered on his face.

"Hey! So glad you're finally here!" The former champion strode over to them, stopping suddenly as he took in the sight before him. "Woah… Glor, you look…"

"Amazin'?" Hop interjected, smile fading as Gloria elbowed him in the stomach.

"…Scary." Leon finished, continuing towards his friends and family to exchange hugs. "I'm only sorta kidding, you definitely look great. But also like you could kick some _serious _ass."

Hop recoiled somewhat hypocritically at the sound of his brother cursing. "Where'd you get that mouth, Lee?"

"After losing the champion title I decided to lighten up a bit. Did you know I haven't said the F-word in eight years?"

"Not even when ya forget ta ask for hot sauce at Taco Bell?" Piers asked, trying not to laugh at Leon's straightedge attitude.

"Not even when I forget to ask for hot sauce at Taco Bell!" Leon affirmed, laughing. Gloria couldn't help but smile, she hadn't seen her predecessor in person in over a month. He certainly seemed much happier than he did back then.

"Anywho, Leon… when should I expect to put on my 'Champion Mouth' for the cameras?" Gloria asked, looking around the lobby.

"Oh, oops!" The tower boss looked down at the golden watch he was wearing, having obviously lost track of time. "I had them stall a bit 'til you all got here. The news crew is waiting outside!"

"Get on with it then, you lot!" Piers almost forcibly shoved his friends towards the double doors that gated the Battle Tower, triggering the sensor that caused them to open automatically. "I ain't bein' on no newscast, so I'll just be waitin' here til ya get back."

"Thanks again, mate!" Hop called over his shoulder, not realizing that cameras were already rolling on the three trainers as they passed through the double doors.

"And here we have the mastermind behind the Battle Tower, Galar's own Leon, with his younger brother and well-known trainer Hop as well as our Champion, Gloria!"

The Champion froze up at the reporter's introduction, not knowing whether to focus on him or any one of the ten cameras currently zooming in on her face.

"Hello, Galar! The Battle Tower is just about to open to all of YOU!" Leon exclaimed into a very specific camera in the middle of the crowd. He seemed to know what he was doing, so Gloria followed his gaze and smiled at the cameraman.

"I'd like to let my brother have a few words before we hand it over to the Champion," Leon continued with enthusiasm. "Hop?"

Hop seemed to break out of a trance when he was mentioned, suddenly throwing himself into a speech.

"Oh, man, it's so great to be here today! I've always been so enamored with Pokémon battling, and even though I've altered my path a bit recently towards becoming a Professor-" The crowd interrupted Hop with a tremendous cheer, which he beamed at until it died down, "- I think the Battle Tower is going to be a great place to further develop my skills as a trainer."

"That sounds wonderful, Hop!" the reporter exclaimed, his teeth shining a little too white for Gloria's comfort. "And who else do we have up here with us this evening?" Before Gloria could address the cameras, Leon interjected without a second thought.

"I made sure to bring our Champion into this fair city tonight, not just because she's my wonderful successor, but…"

Gloria quickly turned toward Leon, her heart dropping as she realized she couldn't stop his words from flowing out, being broadcast to the entire region.

"Gloria here was the one who so graciously helped me out with this whole project!"

Hop glanced at Leon in confusion. Gloria was sure she could hear her Rotom phone buzzing endlessly from behind the Battle Tower doors where she'd left her purse before stepping outside. The cheering from the crowd seemed to be drowned out by Gloria imagining Raihan throwing a temper tantrum all the way back in Hammerlocke Stadium.

"Er… yeah! It's been an honor, Leon." Gloria's words had little excitement behind them. The flames of her desire to beat him and his team into the ground that weekend had instantaneously escalated into a wildfire.


	5. Whiplash

After what was, to Gloria, a disastrous news conference, the Champion hurriedly registered for her first round of battles at the Tower. Luckily for her, there wasn't much time to spare for yelling at Leon about what he'd said; she wanted to wait until the weekend was over to read him the riot act. Gloria was in Wyndon to battle, and that was what she was going to focus on.

"You didn't tell me you were working with Lee on all this," Hop mentioned as he registered himself for battles at an automated kiosk in the Tower lobby. His tone seemed a bit less energetic than usual. "That's pretty cool."

Gloria sulked beside him, having already signed up for the weekend.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," she lied a bit, trying to make her involvement seem as minor as possible, "Leon organized most of it, he just asked me for some advice along the way." That was all pretty much true, but it had definitely been more than _some_ advice.

"Still, mate, you're already doing such amazing things as Champion." Hop received his time ticket for when he needed to be ready to battle for Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

Gloria mindlessly grabbed her phone out of her purse and turned on the screen. She'd put it on silent right after the newscast as it had been buzzing endlessly with text, call, and social media notifications. She hadn't checked who they were from yet.

There were so many notifications on Gloria's lock screen that she couldn't even see the extent of them. She'd made it so that message previews didn't show up for privacy reasons, but she could still see who'd been trying to contact her.

_Marnie – 2 unread messages_

_ Mum – 1 unread message_

_ Raihan – 33 unread messages, 4 missed calls_

Gloria sighed, shutting off her phone completely. The Champion decided she would only reply to her missed notifications after hopefully battling Leon on Saturday. She desperately needed to focus on battling.

"Hop, what's your time ticket say?" Gloria asked her friend as they walked away from the counter, settling down on two velvet couches facing each other over a coffee table in the front of the lobby.

"My time slot for tonight is eight to ten. Tomorrow, I'm on from noon to four, and if I win 'em all, I'm slotted to face Lee at five." Hop replied, turning his ticket over in his hands.

"Sounds good. I'm on at 7:30 tonight, so I don't have much time til then. I have to be here at eleven tomorrow, and I'll likely be against Leon at four."

"You'll definitely win your way there," Hop looked up at his friend with a soft smile but his eyes were already clouded with defeat. "I'm not even sure I'll get through tonight's matches…"

"Don't think like that, mate!" Gloria encouraged him, a bit annoyed that Hop was still doubting himself after how well he'd done in the gym challenge. "Just go into it with a good attitude and you'll be fine."

The two rivals moved into the challengers' waiting room after a while as more and more trainers and fans arrived in the lobby. They signed a few autographs until Gloria suggested they try to shift into a focused battle mindset.

The Champion had since changed into a more traditional challenger uniform reminiscent of what she wore during the gym challenge, this time with athletic leggings instead of shorts and a champion sword-and-shield logo on the front of her jersey. The fancier getup was being saved for her battle with Leon, of course.

"I'm on in ten," she mentioned to Hop, who seemed busy on his phone answering fans' Chatter comments. "I'm gonna go register my Pokémon, I think I've decided on who I want to use tonight. See ya on the other side, mate."

Hop looked up from his phone, his old smile returning. "Have fun, Champ. This'll be a piece of cake for ya."

Gloria rolled her eyes as she waved goodbye to Hop, walking past a few other trainers seated on the benches in the waiting area. She made her way up to the receptionist's desk, detaching the six Poké balls from her belt and setting them on the counter.

"H-hello," Gloria stuttered a bit, nerves getting the best of her. "I'm here to register my three Pokémon."

"Welcome, Champion!" The receptionist greeted, her gray eyes beaming. "First, what is your challenger number?"

Gloria hurriedly pulled the crumpled time ticket out of her pocket, searching for the ID number that was printed on it.

"Um… 0001-19." She read the number out loud as the receptionist typed the number into the computer behind the desk.

"Great, thank you. Now, please hand me the Pokémon you are using today."

Gloria pocketed her ticket and slid three of the shrunken Poké balls across the counter, her hand shaking a bit as she did so. _The first trainer tiers are easy, calm down already!_

The receptionist carefully placed the Poké balls in a device beside the computer, similar to the machines used in Pokémon centers. The capsules grew to normal size and their buttons blinked as the data inside was read.

"Cinderace, Dracovish, and Lucario, correct?"

"That's right," Gloria's voice cracked as her Pokémon's species names were displayed on a monitor on the desk that faced her.

"Great, thank you. Now, if you would be so kind to leave the rest of your party here during your time in the Tower, that would be splendid."

Gloria felt a bit uncomfortable leaving the rest of her partners behind the desk while she battled. She knew these were Frontier rules everywhere in the world and that security here would be impenetrable, but she couldn't suppress a queasy feeling at the thought of someone trying to nab the Champion's team.

"Yeah, no problem." She passed the rest of her team over to the receptionist, saying goodbye to them in her head. _Be good, you three. Chariot, Nori, Gio… I'll be back soon._

The receptionist handed back Gloria's selected team, briefly explaining the rules of the upcoming battles.

"Your Pokémon have been temporarily set to Level 50. This reset will automatically wear off at the end of your session tonight, so no need to worry about lasting side effects. Their stats have also been automatically altered to match their level marker…" Gloria began to zone out, thinking about the battles to come. Although she had been studying the Frontier rules for as long as she could remember, the Champion had never actually participated at a competitive facility. Gloria feared there was no amount of reading or mock battles that could have adequately prepared her for what she was about to face.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll be back at 9:30."

* * *

It was an easy gauntlet for the Champion to overcome.

After nearly twelve battles in two hours, Gloria was more than exhausted, her team weary as well. Ancho, Splat and Foo had fought hard but only faced one or two truly tough opponents. Her confidence had returned, and Gloria knew that if she kept up this pace the next day, she was sure to face Leon.

Gloria wanted to battle the former Champion, yes, but she hadn't spoken to him after the broadcast earlier that evening. He probably didn't know he'd done anything wrong by accrediting her for the Tower, and Gloria wanted to explain why that was a mistake, but she just didn't have the energy for it that night. Besides, she wanted to focus on the task at hand; winning her way to the top.

Rather than heading back to the hotel right away, Gloria sat around in the Battle Tower lobby to wait for Hop. Normally she would have sent a text and told him she was leaving on her own, but Gloria wanted to avoid reading her missed messages at all costs. She decided to talk to some fans about her recent battles to pass the time.

"So, how'd you do in there?" a young girl asked, her eyes sparkling as she talked with the Champion.

"Oh, it was a good time. My team and I won twelve in a row before we had to retire for the night!" Gloria didn't want to brag, but the first series of battles wasn't much of a challenge at all.

"Ooh, which Pokémon did you use? Didja bring Zamazenta?" another girl asked.

Gloria didn't want to admit how slow her training with the legendary Pokémon was going. Zamazenta was exceedingly proud, and although it saw the Champion as a worthy trainer, building trust with it was slow-moving.

"Nah, me mum is watchin' over 'Zenta while I'm at school. He needs lots of attention, I don't want to keep him cooped up all the time. Tonight, I brought my aces… can ya guess who?"

"Um… Definitely Cinderace!"

"Yep! Ancho was leadin' off my team of three tonight. Foo was out there takin' names, and…"

"Wait, I thought Nori headed off your party!" An older teenage boy interrupted. "During the gym challenge, you'd always start with your Thievul and switch out with Parting Shot if you had a disadvantage…"

"Wow, you've studied up! Nope, Nori wasn't with me tonight. I brought on a newer friend, someone who can dish out some MAJOR hits. His name is Splat, the Dracovish…"

"Gloria!" the Champion was cut off by the sound of Hop's voice as he ran up to her, apparently finished with his first series of the weekend. "How'd it go?"

Gloria turned to him as he reached her, smiling inwardly at her fans' reactions to seeing Hop.

"Smooth as butter, my friend. Twelve whole wins!"

"What'd I tell ya? You're doing great. I managed to have eleven battles in the two hours, and… I won 'em all, too!"

"Wow, Hop, you're probably as good as your brother now!" One of the younger girls next to Gloria squeaked, striking a funny-looking Charizard pose.

"Eh, we'll see about that one!" Hop answered shyly, trying to avoid grinning too wide. He turned back to Gloria and she noticed how tired he looked.

"We should head back for the night, I'm beat." He muttered.

"Yeah, I was just waiting for ya." Gloria smiled at their fans one last time and waved goodbye. "Thanks for saying hi, you three. I can tell you'll be great trainers real soon." The kids looked at each other with eyes as round as dinner plates, completely in awe of the Champion's praise.

"Bye, Champion!"

"See ya around, Hop!"

* * *

Gloria laid on top of the still-made hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling. The Champion Suite she'd reserved had two king-size beds, a master bathroom and a living area, which were more luxuries than she'd ever need, but she was free to book it anytime as the Champion of Galar. She and Hop were sharing the room that weekend, and with how many sleepovers they'd had as little kids, it was a completely normal occurrence. During the flight back to the hotel, Hop had received a call from his brother.

_"Hop, you and Gloria should join me for dinner since your battles have ended!"_

_ "Sorry, Lee, but… Glor and I are pretty worn out. Maybe tomorrow would be better."_

Gloria was beyond grateful that Hop had declined Leon's offer. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally cause a scene in public… she'd never be able to live something like that down. Who knew how irrational she would have acted, being so angry and so exhausted at the same time.

"You okay, Glor?" Hop's voice broke the monotony of the ambient noise coming from the TV. "You're awfully quiet tonight."

The Champion squeezed her eyes shut, resisting the urge to turn her phone back on and answer all the unread messages.

"I'm okay," she sighed, rolling over to face the wall rather than her friend who was already tucked into his own bed, ready to fall asleep. "There's just a lot going on right now." She suddenly focused on the soft voices coming from the TV. The news was on, recapping the day's events:

"Word has it that Champion Gloria and Trainer Hop were among the challengers who cleared tonight's gauntlet of the Battle Tower's first season." A reporter declared. Gloria rolled her eyes, tired of hearing randos who didn't know her speak as if they knew her life story. "Although we can't provide live coverage of these matches, we will be interviewing trainers at the Tower tomorrow as the best of them all face off against Leon of Postwick."

"Thanks for that, Minerva," another reporter chimed in. "Now, we have an interesting situation with the Champion facing some elite trainers this weekend. Some of you may be thinking, 'If Gloria loses, especially to Leon, what does that mean for her Championship title?"

Gloria grabbed a pillow and squished it over her head.

"Well, since the Battle Tower follows the Frontier rules originally established in Hoenn, these battles are not official league matches and do not affect any trainers' Galar League standings. However, there is a separate tier system in the Tower that trainers can gain and lose their rank in."

"Turn of the telly, would ya?" Gloria ordered, her voice muffled by the pillow on her head. The room was suddenly silent as Hop must have listened to her command.

"You should get ready for bed," Hop muttered as Gloria threw the pillow off her face as to breathe normally again. "I think you'll feel better in the morning."

"I'm hopin' so." The Champion answered, reluctantly getting up and trudging over to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

* * *

There had been talk on the town all night about each Tower challenger's teams, held items and movesets, so Gloria had taken it upon herself to wake up early on Saturday morning to do some strategizing.

_Foo's had the focus band all day and hasn't needed it, so I think I'll give her the leftovers… _Gloria thought, sitting on the leather couch in the suite's living area while scribbling in a little notebook she'd brought with her. _And although the choice scarf/Fishious Rend combo did wonders for Splat yesterday, I think we should bring back the rocky helmet to take people off guard, ESPECIALLY Leon… I doubt we can outspeed Charizard. Although depending on his lineup, he might have mostly special-attackers… _Gloria pursed her lips and tapped her temple with her pen, trying to decide what to do.

"Mate, it's seven in the morning, why are you up?" Gloria jumped a little as Hop walked into the room, rubbing sleep from his eyes. She must have left the door open, which had let light into the bedroom from the window.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to plan for the day."

"Jeez, give yourself a break, wont'cha? And at least let me take you to breakfast before you head over to the Tower."

Gloria could only stomach a yogurt from the hotel café before heading to her fate. She carried a small duffel with her that held the outfit she'd face Leon in, mulling over in her head if it was a good idea to use the same team she'd used the night before.

_Leon's certainly heard about my lineup from yesterday, especially after I told everyone in the lobby. His Tower trainers have probably also relayed my movesets to him… Is that allowed? I guess so. Well, I swapped around some items and even used some TMs on Ancho and Foo, so… at least I have that. And maybe he's assuming I'm using a different team today. He won't know what I'm using today until I face him, he'll only know what I did last night… Okay, I think this will be fine…_

"I think I'm going to check out the Battle Shop before I head in," Hop mentioned as the two trainers approached the entrance to the Battle Tower. "Might pick up a few last-minute items to switch things up."

Gloria already knew what the Shop had in stock – she'd decided on nearly all of its inventory. There were a few items she was saving up for with the Battle Points she'd won with each battle; it wouldn't be wise for her to spend them now.

"Good idea. But you might want to save up for some of the rarer things they have; the more expensive an item is, the more desirable it tends to be in battle." She told Hop, wiping the sweat from her palms on her leggings. It wasn't even moderately warm outside, but Gloria was caught up in nerves once again.

"Next time I see ya, you'll have faced Lee!" Hop exclaimed as Gloria stood in front of the elevator that would take her to the second half of her first Tower series.

"Hopefully you're right, and hopefully I'll win…" Gloria's hands shook as she rested her fingers on the three Poké balls in her belt. "Good luck to you as well."

"You too, Champ!"

* * *

A half hour.

That was all the time Gloria had before she was slated to face Leon.

She hurried into the locker room just below the top floor of the Tower, quickly stripping off her sweat-saturated Challenger uniform. Her skin was warm and damp from the heat of battle, but she threw on her boss-fighting uniform without cleaning up further than simply reapplying deodorant.

Gloria looked herself over in the mirror after changing, breathing heavily after having to pull on her tall black boots. Her ponytail was falling out, strands of hair sticking up all around her head. _This won't do, _she thought, undoing her hair tie and retrieving a comb from her bag. Gloria quickly combed through her hair, smoothening it as much as possible, then tied it back up in the highest ponytail she could muster at the top of her head. _There we go. _Every strand was pulled back aside from her sideswept bangs, an iconic look.

She had time to spare after the rush, so Gloria took a few swigs from her nearly empty water bottle and dabbed her face dry with a paper towel. She took out a small makeup bag and pinned her bangs back to powder her face and hide the redness of her flushed cheeks. She didn't want to look as exhausted as she felt – Leon hadn't been battling all day, so he had an advantage there – Gloria wanted to feign the same energy.

After finishing up, Gloria headed out of the locker room and up a short flight of stairs. She sat on the bench next to the door that led to the roof, checking her watch.

_Five minutes til go time._

Gloria bounced her knee as she waited, deciding to put on some chapstick to freshen up even more. Her chest felt tight and she forced herself to breathe deeply, calming her mind as much as she could.

It was more than the nervousness of battle. It was much more than having to face Leon for the first time since the championship. Gloria and her predecessor were going to be the only ones on that roof, besides a room monitor who would only talk to the trainers if one of them were to forfeit. There was time to talk. What would he say to her? What would she say to _him?_

"Challenger Gloria, it's time. Are you ready to face the tower boss?"

Gloria looked up at the room monitor, smiling gently as to hide her overwhelming anxiety.

"Yeah, I'm all set. Let's go." She stood up, patting the Poké balls in their holster, feeling a burst of courage as her tailcoat trailed down to the backs of her knees. Gloria led the way through the gilded double doors and onto the roof.

The sunlight of the outside world was blinding compared to the earthy glow inside the tower and Gloria fought the urge to cover her eyes as they adjusted to the light. It was mostly sunny in Wyndon that afternoon, a somewhat rare sight, and Gloria strode up to her position on the battlefield, which shone like crystal in the daylight.

Leon was already there waiting, his scarlet coat like a burst of flame against the azure sky. Gloria looked at him for a second before speaking, noticing right away how dull his eyes seemed, missing their usual glow.

"I knew you'd make it this far," He declared, his voice strong but lacking some resonance. "Are you ready to show me what you've got, Technician?"

It was intriguing to be called by that title rather than Champion, especially since Gloria hadn't defeated a Frontier-type boss yet. Leon likely didn't know it was usually an earned title, but the Champion took it in stride. Her eyes then narrowed as she remembered what had transpired the day before.

"You shouldn't have said anything about me helping out with all this, especially on the news."

Leon's eyes darkened, glaring at the Champion. Her heart skipped a beat in surprise, caught completely off guard by his reaction.

"Er… Leon, you feeling alright? You look exhausted." The tower boss looked down for a moment, then back up at Gloria.

"I was up 'til Arceus knows when last night, on the phone with Raihan." he answered, his voice barely above a whisper. "I don't need you tellin' me what he's already said."

Gloria suddenly regretted bringing up the topic. Clearly Leon was already experiencing the fallout of his impulsivity, and her fanning the flames would only make him more merciless in battle.

"Anyway, I already asked you," he continued, sounding more tired than upset. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

"Out, Ancho!" "Go, Asher!"

The opponents called out their first Pokémon in unison, following the traditional rule as to not give one trainer an advantage. Gloria's eyes widened as the two Cinderaces popped out onto the battlefield, facing each other in slightly different stances. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the holographic scoreboard projected onto the Tower's dome.

"When did you get a Cinderace?" Gloria blurted out, keeping her voice from shaking.

"Raised him up back home quite some time ago! You don't know half of who I am as a trainer!" Leon called, his usual confidence seeping back in his words.

"Focus blast!"

"Pyro Ball!"

_Focus blast?!_ Gloria stared in shock as Leon's Cinderace moved ever-so-slightly faster than Ancho, firing a ball of pure energy into her own Pokémon's torso. Before Ancho could even kick up a Pyro ball, he was flown backward, hitting the ground with immense force. According to the hologram, Gloria's Pokémon had lost over half of its HP.

_How did it do so much damage?! He doesn't even have STAB! Wait… what's Cinderace's hidden ability?_

"Ancho, get on your feet and use Pyro Ball!" Gloria's Cinderace leapt up again, wiping dirt off its face as it kicked up a fireball and sent it flying at Asher. Leon attempted to call a dodge but the Pyro Ball collided within milleseconds, sending Asher tumbling backwards. The opponent's Cinderace landed on its feet, still just above half health.

_Shit. I was not expecting this at all, shit! I'd get off a Flame Charge for the speed boost, but I'll be knocked out by then, it's not worth it! We just have to count on their Focus Blast missing!_

"Ancho, Pyro Ball again!"

"Focus blast once more!"

This time, Gloria's Cinderace waited until Asher sent its Focus Blast over, not taking its eyes off the opponent. Ancho dove under the aura ball Matrix-style and kicked up yet another fireball, launching it at Asher before Leon could even process what was happening. The move connected and the opposing Pokémon was bowled over, hitting the ground this time. However, it was still able to battle with an eighth of its total HP.

"Don't get too cocky!" Leon shouted, his Cinderace back on its feet within seconds. "Focus blast, again!"

_Again? _Gloria thought, _is he using choice scarf or just spamming?_

"Flame Charge!" If Gloria's Pokémon could get in a speed boost without fainting, it'd have an advantage over what Leon sent out next.

Unfortunately, within the scuffle Ancho had gotten within a much closer range of Leon's own Cinderace. The Focus Blast made contact before Gloria's Pokémon could evade it, and Ancho was out for the count, flying backwards through the air towards its trainer and landing with a _thud _on the battlefield.

_Okay, that's okay, we got in two good hits. Time for something foolproof. _Gloria's mind was a whirlwind as she withdrew her Cinderace and called out her next Pokémon. Asher was weak, and this next turn was sure to be its last.

"Splat, get 'em!" Gloria's Dracovish entered the battle, its primitive roar echoing throughout the skydome. Splat was facing straight towards Leon, not seeming to be paying attention to the Cinderace that was diagonally in front of him. _Good boy, Splat._

"Asher, High Jump Kick!"

"Fishious Rend!" Gloria was sure Splat would be slower than Asher, but this move could still get the job done… she knew for certain that Leon would be down a Pokémon by this turn's end. And also, was he assuming Dracovish was a rock type?

High Jump Kick connected with Splat's head, only knocking the dragon slightly off balance. Asher, however, was sent flying back towards Leon without even being hit by Fishious Rend, the tower boss staring at his Pokémon in shock as it was completely knocked out.

"What in the…" Leon stared at the Dracovish in awe as it roared, and he finally noticed the rocky helmet equipped to the back of the Pokémon's head. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Gloria tried to hide her glee as Leon chose his next Pokémon. Splat was truly a force to be reckoned with.

"Alright, Red, time to shine!" Gloria's heartbeat quickened as she recognized the nickname Leon had called out. _Charizard… already?_ Sure enough, Leon's ace was brought out onto the battlefield, its tail flame flickering brightly. Luckily for Gloria, she read through what Leon was about to do since his Pokémon held the disadvantage in this type matchup.

"All right, Red, it's Gigantamax time!"

"Splat, let's Dynamax!"

The two trainers called back their Pokémon, their Poké balls glowing and morphing with a powerful red light, and they threw the Charizard and Dracovish back into battle in their gigantic, powered-up forms. Gloria covered her ears as the Pokémon roared and she hurried to stand beside her monstrous dragon.

"Red, Max Wyrmwind!"

"Max Rockfall, Splat!"

Gloria's heart sank as her Dracovish was hit with a super-effective move, but took solace in the facts that Splat tanked the hit with a little less than half HP left and that Charizard was dealing with a 4x super-effective hit. According to the scoreboard, the two Pokémon were at about the same level of health.

Gloria quickly decided to use Max Geyser the next turn despite only being 2x effective since its base power was much greater than Rockfall, and Splat's water typing meant STAB.

"Max Geyser!"

"Finish him with another Max Wyrmwind!"

Gloria shielded her face with a hand as the huge Pokémon's attacks collided at once, covering the battlefield in a harsh, violet light. As blinding as it was, Gloria was reminded of someone's eyes, which gave her further confidence in her skills.

As if the light wasn't enough, both Charizard and Dracovish let out deafening roars. Gloria looked up in surprise and noticed both Pokémon were left unable to battle by the last move and had begun shrinking back to size. The Champion quickly withdrew Splat and secured the ball in its holster, promptly retrieving her final team member.

_I believe in us, old friend! _She silently urged her Lucario into battle and threw out its ball.

"Let's do this, Foo!"

"Anaklusmos, battle!"

Gloria felt like her heart had leapt up into her throat as Leon brought out his Aegislash. _Oh no, Oh Arceus, please not that thing. Please, no! _The Champion recalled how Leon's Anaklusmos was the first Pokémon he'd used against her in their championship match, quickly taking out two of Gloria's team members. That _beast _of a Pokémon had hurt her morale so badly that she'd almost lost to Leon like every other challenger before her. If it hadn't been for Ancho… _And I can't use Ancho now! If we can't get five hits of Bone Rush in on this turn… we're done for! _Gloria's hands shook feverishly as she commanded her Lucario.

"Foo, Bone Rush!"

"Swords Dance!"

_Leon, I know what you're doing… If we don't finish you now, you've got us beat._

Gloria's Lucario bolted forward towards the Aegislash, which was carefully sharpening its sword body with the edge of the shield it held. One of Foo's claws popped out of its paw, quickly morphing into a long femur as another claw grew back.

_The bone looks sturdy enough…_

Foo began to furiously beat the Aegislash with the bone, each hit being super-effective but only dealing moderate damage.

_One hit… two hits, c'mon… THREE hits… _Gloria willed the Lucario to keep going, but after the third hit, Lucario's marrowous weapon shattered against Anaklusmos' steel body. The Aegislash had less than half its health left, but Gloria knew what Leon was planning.

"No! Foo, Bone Rush once more!"

"Finish them with Sacred Sword!"

"FOO, DODGE IT!" The Lucario was in too close a range after its Bone Rush attack, not managing to get out of Aegislash's radius before the Pokémon whammed itself against Gloria's final team member. Sacred Sword sent Lucario soaring, then landing with a sickening blow against the floor. Without looking at the scoreboard, Gloria knew that Foo was out in one hit.

_…Focus sash… she didn't have her focus sash…_

The Champion hurried to her Lucario's side, not daring to look up at Leon as he withdrew his Aegislash.

"Foo, you fought so hard. Thank you." She called the Pokémon back into its ball, her whole arm still shaking from the adrenaline rush.

Gloria finally stood up, feeling the sting of defeat even deeper when she managed to meet Leon's gaze as he'd approached her.

"…That was a good battle," she forced the words out of her mouth, trying not to choke on the depth of her loss.

"Hm. Was that really the best you could do?" Leon's tone seemed much different than usual, none of the humility present he'd usually had after winning battles.

"W-what? What's _that _supposed to mean?" The Champion's words came out like steam, as her stomach was boiling in anger.

"After our final match this summer, after all the expertise you lent me in building the Tower… you really lost that badly?"

"I _didn't _lose badly, you absolute prick!" Gloria was up in Leon's face now, spitting out each word. "That was a close match and you know it!" Leon shifted his gaze at something in the distance, acting like he was above making eye contact with the Champion.

"It's not close when I can one-shot one of the 'Champion's' Pokémon. Maybe what you were on about earlier was right."

"Leon, what are you talking about?"

"I should have had Raihan help me instead of _you._"

* * *

Gloria reached the first floor of the Battle Tower, hurriedly wiping the last tears from her face. _At least I'm wearing waterproof makeup._

As she entered the lobby, Gloria was met with a crowd of giddy-looking trainers eagerly awaiting her news.

"Hey, Glor!" Hop greeted from the front of the crowd. He was already back in street clothes, so the Champion assumed he'd been beaten before he had the chance to battle Leon. "So? How'd your match go?" Gloria was still in her Tower boss getup, and that combined with what time it was made it obvious to the crowd that she'd been facing the boss himself. The girl put on her best Champion smile, although it felt so, so fake, and happily greeted the crowd.

"Hi, all. Well, unfortunately… I lost!"


End file.
